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Ask HN: Recommend resources that helped your game dev journey?

182 points by stevekwon211 ↗ HN
I’m new to game dev and struggling with my first project, Space Zero. I’d love recommendations for resources (books, tutorials) to learn game design—especially after my demo flopped. For context, I shared it on Hacker News, Reddit, and Product Hunt recently, and here’s why I’m making it, plus what I learned.

I grew up in Korea, a quiet kid hooked on Civilization and Minecraft—games were my escape, teaching me through play. After military service, I dropped college to co-found Disquiet, a social network for software builders. Now, 1.5 months into Space Zero with friends, I want it to be a space where people create and play together. Personally games shaped me, and I’d love to give that back.

But I’m clueless. don’t know design or mechanics. Our demo (collecting/crafting) got 500 signups in 4 days on HN/PH, but feedback was tough: - No clear goal, felt aimless. - AI crafting items lacked purpose, just swing the result. - Too barebones for a demo.

Posting on Reddit’s indie dev sub (my first try) got some “you did it wrong” too. It stung, but I see now: purpose matters, mechanics need depth. I’m reading The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell—it’s great so far, but I need more.

Any books, videos, or communities that helped you grasp design or make fun mechanics? I’ll keep building Space Zero quietly, aiming to fix these gaps. Any recs mean a lot to a newbie like me!

145 comments

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drrob
I'm the developer of a boxing game called Leather, that I've had in the Play Store and App Store for about 6 or 7 years now.

As I'm working towards a Steam release I've been digesting a lot of this guy's advice - https://howtomarketagame.com/

Whilst much of his guidance is of course marketing rather than design related, he does write about genres and game mechanics that attract players - specifically on desktop rather than mobile. It's worth a few hours of your time to check his stuff out.

stevekwon211
Gonna check it out, always down to learn more about what draws players in. Appreciate it :)
upghost
Agreed. I spent a year going down the wrong path before finding this resource, but it saved me from going four more years down the wrong path.
ajkjk
You should talk to people in person for feedback and have a conversation about it. Anonymous posts in messageboards are not an effective way to get feedback.
ajkjk
On rereading this didn't come back like I intended. IMO this post is fine. What I'd caution against is reading too much into the targeted feedback from reddit/etc about your game. Studying like you're doing is great, but nothing would beat actually sitting down and talking to someone in person who has played a lot of games and picking their brain. You say the "feedback was tough", which makes me think that you didn't expect it. If you sit down with someone and have a conversation about the game, I think you'll find that you can empathize with their feedback and understand it better. Instead of just feeling criticized, you'll realize that the things about the game they don't like, you also don't like, and be able to make it better. Basically I think that empathetic human-to-human feedback is a lot easier to process and learn from compared to anonymous feedback from disinterested strangers.
stevekwon211
I get what you mean. Right now, I can only get feedback through anonymous posts like this, but I’d love to talk to gamers in person as soon as I can. I half-expected some of this feedback, but I was surprised and later grateful by how much people gave (including your comment). Thanks :-)
surprisetalk
Watching this guy's devlogs was extremely informative:

https://www.youtube.com/@randyprime

63
Extremely informative on what not to do. He never prototyped his game to see if the mechanics would actually be fun, rewrote it in a more tedious way every time he got bored, and then stopped working on it and took everyone's money to go vacation around the world for a few years. Randy is perhaps the worst game dev role model I can think of.
stevekwon211
With comment from 63, I’ve got to check it out. Seeing someone else’s dev process is such a cool thing.
rererereferred
I wouldn't hung up on the feedback too much. I also think minecraft has no clear goal and feels aimless and yet it's one of the most popular games in the world. If the game is fun for you, there will be a niche with the same taste for sure.
stevekwon211
Thanks for the comment! Taking feedback is my choice, and making something I find fun feels really important too
raytopia
Gamedev City [0] is a new community and could be a good place for feedback and finding resources in general. As for sharing demos and collecting feedback I personally think itch.io [1] is pretty good.

As far as game improvement is concerned it's important to get in a growth mindset and keep focusing on improving the game, which it sounds like you're already doing.

Finally if you haven't already I would recommend creating a discord or some kind of forum for you game (itch.io has free hosting for them) just so you can collect feedback from people who are interested and invested in it.

[0] https://gamedev.city/

[1] https://itch.io/

stevekwon211
I’d never heard of Gamedev.city, thanks for letting me know! I’ve already made a Discord server and a few people have joined, so I’ll try asking for feedback often while building
ilikehurdles
I just checked out your prior submission. The title didn’t really sell what the game is, it just lists some technical features you like. Then opening the link takes you to a page with a play button, and clicking it takes you an account creation window asking for my first and last name and email. At that point I backed out because there’s no way I’m signing up for something I don’t know and can’t try.

In the early days of Minecraft it was a free dev build that ran in the browser and had no accounts, as new take on a game called Infiniminer

arandomhuman
This is really great feedback and not even trying to sell you on a marketing book or something.
stevekwon211
Thanks for the feedback! Improving the landing page is on my list, and like you said, I need to hurry up and add a guest mode so people can play without an account.
bavell
I've learned a lot of great general game dev info from Tynan Sylvester's book [0] (creator of Rimworld). Has good info on motivation, rewards, timing, goals, design philosophy, etc.

I have next to no game dev experience and the book is a great intro to a lot of foundational topics imo. NB: the book isn't very technical and is an easy read!

[0] Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences https://a.co/d/8Im68r8

stevekwon211
Thanks for the great book recommendation! Since so many people suggest Tynan Sylvester’s book, I’ll make sure to read it first.
Kapura
The Art of Game Design is a very good jumping off point; it's how i got my start, and it gives you a lot of windows to look through.

A few years after getting that book, I started to work professionally with people building games, mostly white-labelled projects or contract work, which was the studio's bread and butter. But actually working with people developed my understanding of a) the relative value that artists, designers, and animators bring to the project, relative to my own set of skills and b) how to solve the sorts of problems that ship games. I am a programmer, and I use my programmer skills to give designers and artists what they ask for.

All of that to say: the best next step is working with folks, ideally some who have had experience. Book learning will only get you so far.

That being said, here are a few more books I have seen recommended in my sphere:

- The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander (this is not about games, but design generally)

- Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse

- Game Engine Architecture by Jason Gregory (this is a technical book about modern game engines)

Finally, Liz England (a designer who lowkey helped me not lose hope when I was breaking into the industry) has/had a blog where she talks about game design books. I cannot personally vouch for the titles, but I trust Liz England [1]

[1] https://lizengland.com/blog/game-design-library/

aaarrm
I've been meaning to make the jump into joining random teams' game jams that are looking for additional people. I get nervous about it, that my skills aren't up to par, but I know it would be a great way to increase them.

I'm curious about anyone's experiences who has joined random teams in game jams and how it turned out.

stevekwon211
Working with experienced people taught me in my first startup how fast you can learn that way. If I get the chance, I’d love to work with great people and learn from them. Thanks so much for recommending the book and Liz England’s blog. I’ll definitely check them out
fractallyte
I looked at your demo video, and website.

A game is like a story or movie, or any other creative work: foremost, you need a vision; and then a way of communicating it effectively to an audience.

The design, mechanics, and marketing are just functional details - essential, of course, but pointless without that overarching vision.

Your vision should be powerful, purposeful, and exciting (to you). It's more than just an 'idea'; there should be feelings associated with it (urgency, mystery, thrills, whatever) and a sense of a consistent inner 'story'. It fuels the passion that drives you to solve a series of problems that lead to game creation.

A relevant short essay: "Drunk, and in Charge of a Bicycle" by Ray Bradbury. (And probably the rest of the essays in his book, "Zen in the Art of Writing"...)

(Note: I have a game in the iOS App Store)

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stevekwon211
I need to think harder about my vision, my intrinsic motivation, and my passion. Thanks for the important reminder

I’ll check out the essay and book you mentioned too

bradly
I don't know anything about game dev, but just a bit of support on the feedback:

> feedback was tough: No clear goal, felt aimless. -

There are plenty of successful games that fit this description. There are plenty of unsuccessful ones as well. I would encourage you to lean in to the type of game you want to make. If the game is suppose to be an escape, does it bring that feeling? If the game is suppose to be fun, is it actually fun to play?

Most things just take time to learn. You probably won't get any worse at game design as time progresses, so you are doing the right things and the suggestions in this thread should help you on the path you are already on.

stevekwon211
Thanks for the great comment! I’m realizing how important it is to get clear on what I want to make and define what “fun” means to me.
mclau156
Godot game engine has been good to me, I have not made any original games but I have copied some games with a high skill ceiling, it is very important to have a high skill ceiling because otherwise it feels aimless, games like Advance Wars or Mega Man Battle Network have high skill ceilings but are not too difficult to create in 2D tile systems, as soon as you get into scaling the game with more units, more power ups, etc. then it starts to really feel like it has an aim to become stronger not just a cool thing to look at for 5 minutes
mclau156
Games like Mario, Pokemon, etc. succeed because they have large teams of people making a large world, most individual game devs try to re-make these games and are very overwhelmed trying to create large worlds that hundreds of people worked on together
stevekwon211
Since so many people are talking about Godot, I’ll take a look at it. Thanks a lot for the comment! Also, I know it’s hard for a small group to build a big world, but I don’t think it’s impossible. I’m going to give it a shot
snarf21
I design board games and I think one of the most under utilized skills is studying other games. (There is old advice that says if you want to be a writer, then read more books.) Go back through all the games you like and write up what you love about them. Then, and more importantly, think a lot about HOW the game makes you feel that way or HOW the game gives you the opportunity to explore in some directed way. Then take that lens and re-evaluate the game that you made.

Every board/card game I design starts with a single key idea or mechanic or theme; but they all have a single cornerstone. Every playtest and design change is always looked at through that lens. If there isn't alignment, then you have two choices: ignore the change or considering resetting your cornerstone given what you know now. This really helps to stop thrashing and give focus to your game as you iterate.

stevekwon211
I need to dig deeper into the games I love and study them. That’ll really sharpen my intuition, and I’ll keep working hard. Thanks for the comment :)
AJ007
You need to make multiple games and think about what did and didn't work. Very few developers it was their first game. The early PC developers were pumping out multiple games a year.

While it won't help with real time games, Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanism, will get you thinking about game mechanics.

If you want to make social games, then read The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat http://www.fudco.com/chip/lessons.html There's also 21 years of blog posts worth reading here http://habitatchronicles.com/category/general/

Also don't signup-gate web games, players need to be able to play them instantly, without an account.

peckemys
In this spirit of practicing and making multiple small games before a big one, I find the 20 Games Challenge[0] interesting. It's a list of known games sorted in increasing difficulty to reproduce, introducing new concepts progressively.

[0]: https://20_games_challenge.gitlab.io/

stevekwon211
Thanks for the interesting link! I’ve got to take a look at it
ericmcer
I just read a great quote about this in an Italo Calvino novel:

"If I think I must write `one` book, all the problems of how this book should be and how it should not be block me and keep me from going forward. If, on the contrary, I think that I am writing a whole library, I feel suddenly lightened: I know that whatever I write will be integrated, contradicted, balanced, amplified, buried by the hundreds of volumes that remain for me to write"

bjconlan
Italo Calvino was noted as being of great inspiration to Jonathan Blow (as a relative point of interest on the OP's question)

I think during one of the Braid 20th anniversary podcasts[0] he talks to it which I loved listing to (from a historic viewpoint; well moreso than a game dev/design)

[0]https://open.spotify.com/show/7t7FUL1e9vMCLWpKqcknAL?si=B_Bd...

bloomingkales
Your gems are in the back of the stack: [shit, shit, kinda shit, sorta shit, gem], gotta keep popping the stack.
stevekwon211
That’s a thought-provoking point. Sometimes I feel like I push myself too hard in the process of building stuff.
mikepurvis
Not a gamedev myself, but I think playing a bunch of board games is huge— the complexity constraints for a board game are way tougher than they are for a computer, so designers (the good ones, anyway) are really forced to consider if each new resource, token, turn phase, victory condition, etc is really pulling its weight in the final product. The mechanics have to be ruthlessly stripped back to be just what is absolutely essential to make it work. Games like Patchwork, Santorini, Azul, Carcassonne, etc are a master class in this.

A computer can be doing mountains of bookkeeping behind the scenes, and that not only obscures what is actually going on from the player, but it can make the designer believe they have "depth" when all they really have is an overcomplicated mess.

Watch YouTube channels where board games are taught, and pay attention to the structure of a video like that— it's "you play as X in setting Y, your ultimate goal is to Z, and along the way you're going have to A, B, and C to achieve that. The game will end when conditions Q are met. The hook that makes this game unique is that ____."

A video game (especially an indie game) should be able to pitched exactly as succinctly as that.

stevekwon211
This is an approach I’ve never thought about before. Studying board games could definitely teach me how to design games in a simple and effective way. I’ll check out the board games you mentioned too, thanks!
stevekwon211
Thanks for the good resources and comments, I’ll definitely check them out!
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jezzamon
Do game jams! They let you practice skills and helps you learn what sticks.

Big ones like Ludum Dare will also give you feedback on the game, which is good not for improving that gamejam game you made but for learning what things are important with a first impression. You often are meant to leave feedback on other games which is another good way to learn what works and potential pitfalls.

You're welcome to try hard on your first project but project ideas often have to be really really good to stick. Another advantage of doing gamejams is it let's you make something that you can easily just walk away from

namrog84
Also you can still personally take old ludumdare themes. Do them in 48 hours. And then go and see what others did. Even if you can't submit. They can still be fun mini challenges.
stevekwon211
I’ve always just watched Game Jams and never joined, but this time I really want to give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation :)
lifeformed
If your focus is programming, work with someone who is good at design. Don't expect to just be able to read some books and independently pull off interesting and innovative game design that will be commerically successful, unless you are very serious about diving deep and learning, to the same extent you would study art hard enough to call yourself a professional artist. Game design isn't some optional nice skill to have when making an independent game, it is literally all that matters. Coding is an important and useful skill, so find someone who feels confident about their design and implement their ideas together.
stevekwon211
It’d be awesome to find a great designer to work with. Until then, maybe I should study design a bit myself and make some progress—that might help me convince a good designer to join me. Thanks for the helpful advice!
henning
Handmade Hero.
grandempire
Great for game tech, but not much about game design.
cwiz
Gamedev is sweatshop for a single person because it requires not only the programming but also art, game design, music and all should work together. The key thing here is keeping high resource and motivation. In gamedev the can evaporate easily and they can appear suddenly. Don't expect any feedback in early years. It takes time.
stevekwon211
Since game development takes a lot of time, wouldn’t it be good to get feedback along the way? If I do it all by myself, I might lose my direction. Of course, apart from that, I still need to work hard on it for a long time
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nickledave
Since no one mentioned it yet AFAICT I'll shout out CS50's Intro to Game Dev that uses Love2d (Lua framework): https://cs50.harvard.edu/games/2018/notes/0/

I also really like pico8 for initial dev with lots of rapid feedback. Lazy Devs Academy on YouTube has lots of good Pico8 tutorials, like this intro: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLea8cjCua_P3Sfq4XJqNV... Since pico8 source is often available you can look at it for inspiration, see for example Celeste: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2145

Along the same lines suggest the Spelunky book from Derek Yu where he walks through his whole process (and all these Boss Fight Books are great for that) going from GameMaker Studio prototype to finished product: https://bossfightbooks.com/products/spelunky-by-derek-yu

Last but not least, Itch is doing a California Fire Relief Bundle right now https://itch.io/b/2863/california-fire-relief-bundle that includes good gamedev books from Chris DeLeon. See his "Why are you making your own games? " quiz, https://form.jotform.com/233546996151162/

edit: add link to DeLeon to explain

stevekwon211
Wow, so much info here! I’ll go through it all today and dive deeper into the fun and useful stuff. Thanks a lot!